Hundreds of thousands of people along the U.S. Northeast coast are being told to evacuate ahead of Hurricane Sandy, which is a category one storm.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is telling residents of his city to take this hurricane very seriously.  He says, “the biggest fear is that people don’t leave, and in retrospect, they should have.  They call in an emergency, and some of our emergency workers lose their lives trying to save others needlessly.  If people had done what we’d asked them to do originally, that wouldn’t happen.  There will always be emergencies.  But there’s no reason to create the conditions for emergencies, when it’s relatively easy to avoid them.”

Forecasters say the New York area could bear the brunt of Hurricane Sandy.  The worst of the superstorm is expected to hit tonight into tomorrow.  All flights are cancelled into and out of New York’s three area airports, as well as Boston, Philadelphia, and Washington’s airports.  New York’s subway system has also been shut down.  There is no trading today on the New York Stock Exchange and Broadway performances have been cancelled.